What weapon killed Luke's family in ANH?

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2004-06-03 10:17am

Has it ever been stated what kind of weapon changed Luke's aunt and uncle in 2 smoking skeletons? Didnt seem the work of a blaster anyway (since it only leaves a small hole against an unarmored human)

Jordie · Post by **Jordie** » 2004-06-03 10:21am

wautd wrote:Has it ever been stated what kind of weapon changed Luke's aunt and uncle in 2 smoking skeletons? Didnt seem the work of a blaster anyway (since it only leaves a small hole against an unarmored human)

Maybe the stormies had some fun with an E-Web?

Kerneth · Post by **Kerneth** » 2004-06-03 10:34am

Blasters, according to the EU, have a can be set to effectively burn the flesh from someone's bones. It's used as a handy-dandy field-expedient torture device. You make someone watch while you torch their arm, they'll talk, y'know? Presumably the Stormies tortured Owen and Beru Lars for information regarding the droids, and when they didn't like the answer, simply fried them with the 'burn' setting. Perhaps to make it look more like the work of Tusken Raiders, who evidently get their jollies by torturing humans; this would also explain why they felt compelled to torch the buildings as well, since there was no military need to do so.

Ted C · Post by **Ted C** » 2004-06-03 10:50am

You have to wonder if there wasn't something personal going on with the murder of the Lars and the destruction of their home. Vader had visited this place before, after all. His mother was even buried there.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2004-06-03 12:07pm

Supposedly, there's a torture-setting to blasters that can cause that sort of flesh damage.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-06-03 12:16pm

Ted C wrote:You have to wonder if there wasn't something personal going on with the murder of the Lars and the destruction of their home. Vader had visited this place before, after all. His mother was even buried there.

Now possibly...but when first done, I believe it was done as an act of for Lucas of being Cruel.

For SoD, an act of brutality and torture. Essnetially the Stormies might have gotten fed up with an uppity mositure farmer.

Executor32 · Post by **Executor32** » 2004-06-03 12:31pm

Bah, we all know that Owen and Beru were having a domestic dispute, and Beru blew the place up with a briefcase bomb.

Burak Gazan · Post by **Burak Gazan** » 2004-06-03 12:45pm

And that wasnt the first time Officer Mott (HK-882) had been out there either

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-06-03 01:11pm

You must have missed that episode of "Troops". Aunt Beru had a thermal detonator that went off.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2004-06-03 01:15pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:You must have missed that episode of "Troops". Aunt Beru had a thermal detonator that went off.

Oh right now i remember

I surely hope that was canon

Wonder if they ever found "Duke"

Kerneth's explanation seems me the most logic tough

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2004-06-03 01:40pm

I had always assumed that they simply shot them and burned the bodies.

aten_vs_ra · Post by **aten_vs_ra** » 2004-06-03 01:42pm

It might have been flamethrowers, but only the CSA Espos use them. And if these were the same stormtroopers that were on dewback they probably didnt' have anything but their T-21s.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-06-03 01:51pm

aten_vs_ra wrote:It might have been flamethrowers, but only the CSA Espos use them. And if these were the same stormtroopers that were on dewback they probably didnt' have anything but their T-21s.

Thus likely to be the Blasters.

Plus there is offical sources stating the *burn setting*

vakundok · Post by **vakundok** » 2004-06-03 01:53pm

As I remember, one of the tales mentions they were escorted by a heavy speeder ... Of course, it is only infinite level.

Executor32 · Post by **Executor32** » 2004-06-03 06:37pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:You must have missed that episode of "Troops". Aunt Beru had a thermal detonator that went off.

Yes, but in was in a briefcase-like object. Therefore, my description is valid.

Elfdart · Post by **Elfdart** » 2004-06-03 06:55pm

Probably some sort of incendiary grenade, flamethrower or small dose of napalm shot into the Lars' dugout. Owen and Beru were probably shot while trying to flee and burned up. This would explain the positions of the bodies. Or they came out to see what the Stormtroopers wanted, were shot, and the troopers torched the place to cover their tracks.

Or the top secret "I'd like to kill them and make it look like a cross between the burning deaths of the Edwards family in The Searchers, and the photos of napalm victims and self-torching monks from Vietnam" bomb.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-06-03 07:01pm

Elfdart wrote:Probably some sort of incendiary grenade, flamethrower or small dose of napalm shot into the Lars' dugout. Owen and Beru were probably shot while trying to flee and burned up. This would explain the positions of the bodies. Or they came out to see what the Stormtroopers wanted, were shot, and the troopers torched the place to cover their tracks.

Or the top secret "I'd like to kill them and make it look like a cross between the burning deaths of the Edwards family in The Searchers, and the photos of napalm victims and self-torching monks from Vietnam" bomb.

Given that an offical source has actually stated that Blaster(E-11 in fact) can be set to lower level with a slightly wider beam that is explained as a burn setting and the amount of energy they can expel.

Why come up with an extraneous theory?

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2004-06-03 07:45pm

In Han Solo and the Lost Legacy, Gallandro performs the burning on someone- putting the blaster to a low setting and burning their flesh off.

Elfdart · Post by **Elfdart** » 2004-06-03 10:25pm

Ghost Rider wrote:
Elfdart wrote:Probably some sort of incendiary grenade, flamethrower or small dose of napalm shot into the Lars' dugout. Owen and Beru were probably shot while trying to flee and burned up. This would explain the positions of the bodies. Or they came out to see what the Stormtroopers wanted, were shot, and the troopers torched the place to cover their tracks.

Or the top secret "I'd like to kill them and make it look like a cross between the burning deaths of the Edwards family in The Searchers, and the photos of napalm victims and self-torching monks from Vietnam" bomb.
Given that an offical source has actually stated that Blaster(E-11 in fact) can be set to lower level with a slightly wider beam that is explained as a burn setting and the amount of energy they can expel.

Why come up with an extraneous theory?

Why not?

EU is mostly wank and unreliable and dumb, to boot. If the Stormtroopers had used their blasters to torture Owen and Beru, why are their bodies sprawled out at the entrance of their home? Why does the fire and smoke start inside the home and billow out? Why is the whole fucking house on fire? What, the troopers decided to torture the blue milk dispenser and the furniture, too? Why the elaborate "special burn someone to a skeleton" setting on a blaster explanation instead of the much more plausible (and much less stupid) explanation: "the troopers torched the place and shot them (or shot them and torched the place)"?

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-06-03 10:40pm

Elfdart wrote:
Ghost Rider wrote:
Elfdart wrote:Probably some sort of incendiary grenade, flamethrower or small dose of napalm shot into the Lars' dugout. Owen and Beru were probably shot while trying to flee and burned up. This would explain the positions of the bodies. Or they came out to see what the Stormtroopers wanted, were shot, and the troopers torched the place to cover their tracks.

Or the top secret "I'd like to kill them and make it look like a cross between the burning deaths of the Edwards family in The Searchers, and the photos of napalm victims and self-torching monks from Vietnam" bomb.
Given that an offical source has actually stated that Blaster(E-11 in fact) can be set to lower level with a slightly wider beam that is explained as a burn setting and the amount of energy they can expel.

Why come up with an extraneous theory?
Why not?

EU is mostly wank and unreliable and dumb, to boot. If the Stormtroopers had used their blasters to torture Owen and Beru, why are their bodies sprawled out at the entrance of their home? Why does the fire and smoke start inside the home and billow out? Why is the whole fucking house on fire? What, the troopers decided to torture the blue milk dispenser and the furniture, too? Why the elaborate "special burn someone to a skeleton" setting on a blaster explanation instead of the much more plausible (and much less stupid) explanation: "the troopers torched the place and shot them (or shot them and torched the place)"?

Thank you for doing nothing more then spewing your personal theory of the EU, and giving your personal possiblities with no proof to the contrary.

Let's see, we know blaster have a burn setting, for flesh and we know how much blaster can pump out.

vs

They used incidinarie grenades which we have yet to see them armed with unless you care to point them out on their armament in Star Wars.

Kerneth · Post by **Kerneth** » 2004-06-03 10:48pm

Elfdart, read my previous post. It is a reasonable, in-Universe explanation for how the Stormies tortured them, why they tortured them, and why they torched the buildings. The only question you asked that hasn't been covered is why they're sprawled out in front of the house. It's entirely possible the Stormies dragged them out of the house to torture them, possibly to be sure neither of them could make a grab for any sort of concealed weapon on the premises. Alternately, they were dragged out so they'd be out of the way while the Stormies searched the building.

Why would the carbonized remains be outside the house if they were shot with a standard blaster setting then the house burned? The bodies wouldn't be burned in that case. And if they were shot, tossed in the house, THEN the house torched the bodies would've been inside the building. Last but not least, if the house was set on fire with them inside, there's no way they'd've gotten OUT of the house and then die and leave bodies in that condition.

The simplest scenario is: Stormtroopers raid the moisture farm. They drag Owen and Beru out and search the premises. They don't find anything and torture them with the 'burn' setting on the BlasTech E-11. After they're dead, the Stormtroopers torch the house so it looks like a standard Tusken Raider "Torture the outsiders, kill the outsiders, and burn down their homes" raid. You will recall that the Stormies were, canonically, trying to pass themselves off as Tusken Raiders for purposes of foiling any investigation.

Note that the above scenario may not be in chronological order, to the extent that the Stormies could have tortured them, killed them, and searched then torched the premises in any order they damn well felt like.

Burak Gazan · Post by **Burak Gazan** » 2004-06-03 10:55pm

YT300000 wrote:In Han Solo and the Lost Legacy, Gallandro performs the burning on someone- putting the blaster to a low setting and burning their flesh off.

Actually Gallandro just put a low-power bolt at the feet of one of the survivors to "persuade" him to cooperate with them

It was one of the Trianni who spoke of the CSA scumbags using that form of torture (Han Solo at Stars End) -- and on a feline species, that wouldn't have been a pretty sight

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2004-06-04 05:08am

Well the landingparty operated in uniform but was on a somewhat covert operation so they obviously couldn't leave anyone alive after they were done to run crying to the Senate.

Dead peasants & Jawas don't talk...

It would be interesting to see Vader's reaction to the Stormies report that they had just killed off the remnant of his family. Owen and Anakin seem to have parted on decent terms, no particular bad blood there.

Post by **NecronLord** » 2004-06-04 07:11am

CJvR wrote:It would be interesting to see Vader's reaction to the Stormies report that they had just killed off the remnant of his family. Owen and Anakin seem to have parted on decent terms, no particular bad blood there.

That depends if his shred of humanity was active, or if he were in full on dark side mode.

If it were the former, I suspect that the stormtroopers would be horribly killed. However, I doubt it.

Elfdart · Post by **Elfdart** » 2004-06-04 10:14am

Kerneth wrote:Elfdart, read my previous post. It is a reasonable, in-Universe explanation for how the Stormies tortured them, why they tortured them, and why they torched the buildings. The only question you asked that hasn't been covered is why they're sprawled out in front of the house. It's entirely possible the Stormies dragged them out of the house to torture them, possibly to be sure neither of them could make a grab for any sort of concealed weapon on the premises. Alternately, they were dragged out so they'd be out of the way while the Stormies searched the building.

Why would the carbonized remains be outside the house if they were shot with a standard blaster setting then the house burned? The bodies wouldn't be burned in that case. And if they were shot, tossed in the house, THEN the house torched the bodies would've been inside the building. Last but not least, if the house was set on fire with them inside, there's no way they'd've gotten OUT of the house and then die and leave bodies in that condition.

The simplest scenario is: Stormtroopers raid the moisture farm. They drag Owen and Beru out and search the premises. They don't find anything and torture them with the 'burn' setting on the BlasTech E-11. After they're dead, the Stormtroopers torch the house so it looks like a standard Tusken Raider "Torture the outsiders, kill the outsiders, and burn down their homes" raid. You will recall that the Stormies were, canonically, trying to pass themselves off as Tusken Raiders for purposes of foiling any investigation.

Note that the above scenario may not be in chronological order, to the extent that the Stormies could have tortured them, killed them, and searched then torched the premises in any order they damn well felt like.

Sure, it's possible. It's not the simplest solution, though. It's more likely that Owen (who knows the droids have some connection to Obi-Wan Kenobi) sees the troopers approaching the homestead and runs inside for his gun because he knows the boys in white aren't there to serve a subpoena. The stormtroopers do what soldiers often do to someone they think is armed and holed up. Rather than engage in a shoot-out, they chuck grenades (WP was a favorite in Vietnam) into the hooch -er, home. When Owen and Beru try to run out of the burning building, they get shot and are left to finish burning. This would explain why Owen and Beru are found the way they are.

Or, Owen and Beru greet the troopers, but refuse to say anything about Luke and Owen gets uppity. The stormtroopers rough them up and shoot them. To cover up who did the deed, the trooper torch the place and throw the Larses into the house. Owen and Beru, mortally wounded and on fire, just make it outside the door of their home when they finally expire -which would also explain their positions when Luke found them.