Lightsaber style Weapon Idea

[Admiral Valdemar]

Jesus, people. A sword that uses ultrasonics. There. No stupid EM fields of plasma containment of monofilaments. If you want a blade that cuts through body armour like Jabba through and all you can eat buffet, then keep it simple, stupid.

None of these concepts are new, but some are just that little less insanely stupid than others. A vibrating blade is even a concept used today. If you can power magical lightsabre copy #23, then you already have the technology to make a decent sword that cuts worth a damn.

[Link the First]

Well the intent of an arc saber was never to electrocute someone; it was just to cut things. I thought at first that the specific process could electrocute people as a by-product, that's why I mentioned it.

Also, question about one thing. If you have a slack cable and run a very powerful electrical current through it (assuming that it does have a return pathway or a ground connection, maybe a second cable) would the magnetic field straighten the cable?

[Admiral Valdemar]

No, you would just get a very highly charged cable. If you want it to stand up on end, make it from electromagnetic sections that connect when activated.

[Link the First]

What if it uses those magnetic segments to extend the blade, a second wire leads back to the hilt to act as the striking edge and carry the return current (which is spaced by a solid piece at the tip and kept under tension to make it straight), and ultrasonics are used to make the thing more effective? That covers the retractable blade part, still not too sure about a reason to make it glow blue.

[Covenant]

You can't have an ultrasonic cable, the way an ultrasonic blade works requires an actual blade of some sort. It's not like you can vibrate anything to such a degree that it'll just cut right through shit, or my electric toothbrush would be a WMD.

If you want a glowing energy sword, you need something dumb. If what you want is just a very effective cutting instrument then we already have those in real life, they just don't glow.

I'm pretty sure a magical monofilament sword ala Known Space would cut better than an ultrasonic device, but it does require special magic to make it work. You just need to ask how much science you want to maintain in your thing.

[Link the First]

Still not too sure on what exceptions to make. I was considering some type of bizarre shield tech; maybe I'll just use that instead and go Known Space style.

[Zixinus]

About a blade that uses ultrasonics. What are these and how would they work? I'm interested.

The super soldier would just be a start; that wouldn't be the only reason the guy is a badass, it would just help by allowing him to do some things that ordinary humans couldn't do. These abilities alone don't allow him to do a lot of the things he does; it's also about how he uses those abilities.

Good to know that you have at least a basic idea.

[\quote]
They certainly wouldn't want their prized experiment to escape, but what they want and what happens aren't always exactly the same thing.[/quote]

I wasn't ever talking about the difficulty of the guy getting out. There is a number of classic dramatic ways to do that, all good if you can sell it right.

[\quote]As for hunting him later, he probably would have a price on his head. However, remember that this is scifi, which opens up the possibility of running to other planets which are not under that government's control.[/quote]

Bounty Hunters don't care about borders, especially if the price tag is high enough. Even more so if this is one of those sci-fis where a bounty hunter can buy his own ship and travel wherever he wants with it.

Even if the guy manages to get under the radar, he has to keep it that way: he can't just go and be a mercenary, its profession where you have to travel allot and get seen. Also, like any service market, you have to advertise yourself, something that's not a good ideal if you also have a bounty on your head.

If I were a an escapee of something like that, what I would do is make big rounds that make me difficult to follow, change my name and appearance and then find a suitably isolated back-ass place where my strength would be appreciated (thus lend me easy living) but unlikely to be heard about from the outside.

Ehmmm... wouldn't the electric need to make a complete circuit to actually harm anyone? I mean, you're assuming it'll earth to the ground via the target in all of these electric weapons proposed, but if I'm wearing insulated shoes or standing on a car tyre, its not going to do so even if it hits me. I could just catch your whip/sword then punch you on the nose.

I honestly don't know how the circuit should be closed. It's just a random idea. However, it might still be able to mess with electronics, especially if you make it a bit spiked so it can pierce wires.

[Link the First]

True, but on the other hand it's hard to pay the bounty hunters if you're dead. That could give him something to do.

Anyway changing identity sounds like a good plan, but I wouldn't expect him to just lay low in one area. I would probably have him get a ship to live on and stay mobile, maybe make a living by specifically seeking out people who need mercenary work, changing that disguise regularly and possibly rebuilding his ship occasionally (or dumping it for a new one) so that can't be traced either.

On the other hand, the extreme end might not be necessary if he manages to kill everyone in charge of the experiments as long as he makes sure the bounty hunters know there's no one to pay them for killing him. Still, the occasional hunter catching up to him would mix things up a little bit.

[Oskuro]

I mentioned that in my post above Revan's. ;D

Whoopsie doopsie doo, there goes my confindence in my double-checking skills.

[Covenant]

Blergh, you do realize that unless this is a private lab doing the research, then they're going to have funding from some larger organization--and even if it is private, it's likely they'll have outside backers too? You can't just go around murdering everyone involved in a big project, that's flat-out illegal. Is your guy going to cut a hole through every single enemy instead of just deciding to live quietly somewhere else? That does make him fairly self-centered. Killing a bounty hunter isn't kosher, since these are citizens sent to deliver you to the police, not assassinate you. A bounty hunter is not an assassin, it's a civilian empowered to serve you with a warrent and bring you in. You can't just have him killing everyone or he's swiftly going to become the villian of the fiction instead of the hero.

You also need to explain why these are forced experiments. There's plenty of soldiers that would volunteer for a program that could leave them immensely strong and tough and give their nation a big advantage in any war, so long as the tests had been performed up to a bare minimum of feasibility. It's not like being a test pilot is any safer.

But those aren't weaponry questions--it's just something to keep in mind so he doesn't end up as some sort of bitter, twisted, amoral asshole who everyone legitimately has a reason to shoot in the face.

[Admiral Valdemar]

About a blade that uses ultrasonics. What are these and how would they work? I'm interested.

Y'know electric turkey roast cutters? One of them, but cooler.

[Darth Ruinus]

I was considering some type of bizarre shield tech; maybe I'll just use that instead and go Known Space style.

If you make your sci-fi sword use shields to make a cutting tool, then what stops the enemy from just slapping on some shields for their troops?

[Ford Prefect]

About a blade that uses ultrasonics. What are these and how would they work? I'm interested.

Y'know electric turkey roast cutters? One of them, but cooler.

Also loud, probably. These show up all the time in fiction, the various vibroblades in Star Wars or the progressive knives in Neon Genesis Evangelion are examples (the later being cooler because they were kind of glowy and sometimes boxcutters). A more recent use was the mecha scale sonic blades in Gundam 00, which had the novelty of being extremely loud, and some of them could be used as impromptu lightsabers, somehow.

Honestly, the science of it doesn't matter too much. Even if it is for your own reference, just using some sort of blade which vibrates will work; it's actual properties are up to you. I have myself considered such a weapon which is ear-drum burstingly loud and also on fire, simply by virtue of the vibration. Is this scientifically appropriate? Perhaps not, but it's not all that outlandish. You might as well just use a No More Heroes styled lightsaber, which looks more reasonable than an actual lightsaber, but it is still just a lightsaber.

[Zixinus]

Y'know electric turkey roast cutters? One of them, but cooler.

No, I don't know em. Around these parts, we just cut shit with knives.

Can these things reasonably made to be sword-sized and pretty powerful?

[Covenant]

Y'know electric turkey roast cutters? One of them, but cooler.

No, I don't know em. Around these parts, we just cut shit with knives.

Can these things reasonably made to be sword-sized and pretty powerful?

If you assume the technology is advanced enough and the desire is there, I don't see a reason why not. We already use them for surgery, slicing really thin samples of materials, and cutting up animal carcasses for meat packing plants. The main issue is power and the shakey-shakey parts, which are usually extremely large. An ultrasonic sword might look something like a shotgun with a bayonet, but it'd be feasible. You generally want the blade small so it vibrates fast. Bigger materials have more flex and thus a slower vibration.

And if you make a blade too rigid, it'll snap under pressure. Another way to make it would be similar to an Inca sword, with the ultrasonic gear down the center of the sword and the only blade-like bits coming out of it. It would look something like a hedge trimmer, but handle completely differently. Similar, chainsaws or beltsaws or other 'saw variants are great for cutting, and some of the circular saws people use are capable of doing fairly horrific damage in a very small package.

An ultrasonic knife is sometimes a welding apparatus. A thermal lance is used for cutting big pieces of concrete. Chainsaws are used for slicing through large stationary wooden creatures. All of these 'weapons' have a mundane use, but anything used for cutting through metal can also cut through people, I suppose.

[Zixinus]

True, but on the other hand it's hard to pay the bounty hunters if you're dead. That could give him something to do.

You can't put up a bounty and be dead at the same time.

On the other hand, the extreme end might not be necessary if he manages to kill everyone in charge of the experiments

You watch too many B-movies.

Scientist don't do experiments on their own, they don't one day decide make super soldiers. They are paid for it by the same guys that pay for everything else. In a way, the scientists making the experiment are no different from the guy moping the floor. Do you think that a scientist's ideal carrier is to be stuffed into some small, isolated facility where they do experiments they can't talk about (let alone publish, and scientists are practically conditioned to publish, publish, publish, publish, PUBLISH) and likely to be in trouble for the rest of their lives?

Do you think that good science is done by making a monster that they can't control and kills them all? Scientist don't have such an urge to die. They have an urge to publish their findings, but that involves living.

Whoever is making a super soldier program, regardless whether he or she has a degree, will be FUNDING the program. Scientific research is expensive, particularly when you have dump everything to a remote facility. Anyone doing it is most likely away from the thing and just wanting to see the results, not the process. Especially, if he's paranoid and I doubt that someone who is running a super-soldier program is of perfectly sane mind.

Furthermore, such a person is likely well guarded. No matter how strong or doped this super soldier is, he can't fight trough an army, especially if he has to go after multiple targets.

Blacp Ops are also all about secrecty: it is likely that no one at this hypothetical facility knew who or whom excatly was backing the program, or if they do, they have countermeasures in place to make sure no one will.

Again, this is a situation where trying violence will only and simply land you dead. You can't go on a revange tour. If you want to live, you have to hide. Hiding means not standing out. A guy with super strenght is going to stand out.

Hiding on a spaceship is not a good way. You travel and you can't know who will the wind bring. There is always, always a chance that you will run into someone that will identify you and on foreign ground, they have the advantage.

No, the only safe way for such an escapee is to hide and lay low. Unless he has a deathwish, that is precisely what a sane person would do.

as long as he makes sure the bounty hunters know there's no one to pay them for killing him

You don't tell a bounty hunter that there is no pay for him when you are the target. Honestly, do you think he would believe you? The target? A good bounty hunter most likely has heard that several times.

They check for a pay before they take the job, unless they are just thugs looking for quick cash. Taking a bounty, dead or alive, is always a risk. A good bounty hunter is careful about the risk and his first thing to do will be assessing whether the risk is worth it.

Now, lets say that the person holding the bounty is dead and has Sups in knots. Do you think the Bounty Hunter is going to let him go?

Fuck no.

He's a SUPER SOLDIER! Even if there is a fuckload of them running around, he's still potential data that might be valuable to someone who's also running a super soldier program.

If we are talking about a more clean guy that just wants to make the police's job easier, then he won't let a super-powered freak run around to his own whims. The potential for him to wreak havoc is just too large for a good citizen to let go.