Kazuaki Shimazaki wrote:
To make a hull hugging shield implies highly variable geometry. That shields can be formed into stalks can be seen in the DSII shield.
Nothing about the DS2 shield suggests they can be formed into "stalks" - I just had this argument with vakundok. I can cite at least several examples that suggest it is more of a specialized application than a "standarD" capability of planetary shields. Besides which, you completely ignored the fact that your theory requires the assumption that they can do this across hundreds of kilometers distance. On top of that, you further ignored the "number of ships" I asked for.
Besides, as I already stated, even assuming this ability exists, it simply makes your theory far more complicated than the competing ones.
Umm, I really don't know what you are visualizing in the paragraph. But I wanted to take the protected area clean off the planet. Kind of like this
Y-axis -->
Ship---(Tractor)---[Protected] (Air) GGGGroundddd
There should be no timing problems.
Oh this is
so much better! Now you're simply assuming that they were able to automatically tear out a large section of the ground around your "shield stalk", and maintain this effect without anyone noticing, being tossed about, or any noticable damage effects occured. A feat that not only (still) denies the fleet its tractor beams for deflecting debris (as well as requiring them to exert force agianst the planet to counter the "pull" on the tractors as well), but it would require extensive coordination between the different ship's tractor beams to maintain the effect. And this still assumes they can get the effect through the shields.
But it is also said tractor beams are gravitic (Onslaught). How can a shield really block gravity when they themselves can supposedly be ripped off by it.
Oh, so instead of merely being blocked by the shields, you now think that those tractor beams would suck away the shields you need to protect the Rebels on the ground? How is this exactly better for your theory?
(PS: You might try asking yourself if tractro beams could bypass shields, why the Rebels simply didn't trash the generator from orbit with starship tractor beams. - or why no such tactic is ever used against shielded targets, for that matter. On top of that you failed to consider the differences between a dovin basal and a trractor beam - I am aware of no instance of a tractor beam being used to form an artificial "pseudo-black hole". Or for that matter, why are we assuming Dovin Basals generate gravity? Just because it says so? What about their "plasma cannons that aren't really plasma?" Or how about the fact there is evidence that Vong biotech is Force-powered, which means that instead of gravity it might be telekinesis or a miniature "force storm"? Not that it matters, since having tractor beams eat the shields rather than being blocked by them still hurts your theory.)
Don't worry. I am quite aware of the potential problems in my theory. However, it is the best I can come up with on short notice without a planetary facility.
Which would suggest.. a planetary facility of some sort is neccessary to explain why everyone was not immediately fried by impact of the debris?
It helps that we are really like a Borg cube in a CME (lots of energy total, but due to the small area we are actually in contact with, the energy absorption is low)
Which does not help when we should be seeing evidencee of shield interactions with all the energy the planet absorbed and still retains, even hours after the fact. You really think that having billions of megatons worth of energy dumped into a planet is not going to create noticable visual effects that we should be seeing, even hours after the fact? At the very least, that energy should be superheating the atmosphere (IE firestorms), if not melting the surface of the planet to a substantial depth
Hey, not my fault that you mentioned this about P.2. Converting it to neutrinos is really the best choice (in the absence of unknown technical difficulties of course), and honestly I wonder why they don't do it all the time.
As I recall, I mentioned that as a possibility. (And strictly speaking, they don't neccesarily have to use the interior of the planet as the SOLE heat sink - it could be an alterantive place to radiate excess energy, say in emergencies.)
Anyhow, aside from the fact there is going to be a finite "rate" at which this can be achieved, there is probably also the matter of generating neutrinos, ,as well as access to the technology (something the Rebels may not always have.)
Yes, I know it is mentioned in the SWT. But the ROTJ novelization is equally explicit that as the shield went down, the moon was in "unprotected space."
Yes, but it doesn't specify or even imply whether it was down permanantly, or whether it was temporarily knocked out (presumably by the fact that the Rebels took out the power generator as well as the projector.) It is possible to "knock down" a shield and have it be restored after time has passed (either by repairs, or redundancy, or whatnot.)
And I'm pretty sure the novelization is still just a bit higher on the hierarchy.
No such distinction occurs that I'm aware of. They're just as canonical as any secondary source.
I won't mind the planetary shield idea if these two quite contradicting statements can be bent appropriately (one of the reasons I preferred the repulsor to your shield).
Look above. Assuming redundancy on the part of the generator (both in terms of multiple generators and multiple power sources) is quite logical (for one thing, they would need the ability to repair the shield or replace components without deactivating it in the event of an attack, so having "back ups" to rely on would be practical. Besides which, we know that there are examples of shield redundancy, even in full planetary shielding, such as Coruscant's shields in Wedge's Gamble.) At the very least, its far less of an assumption than anything in your theory (and is far less ridiculous for that matter.)
