The Quasi Mystical Nature of the Phaser/Disruptor
Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 4:54 pm
Ok, I don't really have any "proof" of this theory, other than observation and what seems to me, to be common sense, but you''re a brainy bunch. So I figure, if this makes sense, you all can prove it. If it doesn't, you can disprove it, point and laugh at my stupid ideas, and tell me i'm an idiot. I'm not the most eloquent speaker so if this seems kinda rambling and all over the place i'm sorry.
We're reminded often that Phasers/Disruptors are an evolution of Lasers and most energy weapons. This often raises points like "Well Lasers can have wildly different energy levels so this doesn't make sense". And often, when talking about the amount of raw energy phasers and disruptors put out, they're not as high as one would expect from the visual effects we witness.
My understanding of this has always been that Phasers/Disruptors have evolved beyond reliance on raw energy output for their damage. Yes, there is a measure of thermal energy output. You see that in the phaser burns, but i've always been of the mind that mostly, Phasers/Disruptors do EXACTLY what their names imply.
They like...if this is the right word i'm looking for...subatomically and/or molecularly(If there's a difference) "phase" and "disrupt" any matter they strike. Kinda like, say a harmful variation of Transporter technology, or the phase(There's that word again) cloak. The surface of a person or object right where the phaser/disruptor strikes is sorta...like...put out of phase with the rest of the body for just a second or so. Then, for good measure, a little bit of thermal energy damage is thrown in too.
Mind you, I don't think the material struck is COMPLETELY phased. There was this Sci Fi RPG a while back called Aeon Trinity. I won't go into detail, but suffice to say in this RPG there was a group of people who had the super power to Phase themselves through solid matter. However, the power was kind of crude, in that these people did not Phase completely, in the way we think of it. When they Phase, their bodies hover betweem solid, and immaterial. This gives them just enough solidity to avoid falling through the floor, but, allows them to move through walls. The rub, is that to move through a wall, they have to really push through it, and it's extremely painful. And if you were to take a chunk of the wall, samples of their blood, and tissue would be found suffused through the material even though they still come through in one peice.
THAT is what I think Phasers and Disruptors do. The area they strike becomes sorta half-phased.
Of course, the setting on the phaser effects just how severe this Phasing effect is I imagine that's a truamatic thing to do to an organic body, even for a fraction of a second, which I think explains the stun settings. The stun settings phase that part of the body they strike for a fraction of a second, but terminate before any serious tissue damage is done, and DONT throw any thermal damage in for good measure. The specific stun setting perhaps just influences how deep past the surface the phasing effect carries, or how many fractions of a second it lasts before allowing the tissue to resolidify.
The low-to-mid lethal settings do the same thing, but also burn the semi-phased tissue or material, allowing for the burns on organic beings or explosions on inorganic targets.
And then, at the highest lethal settings, what the Phaser/Disruptor is doing is essentially the equivalant of locking a Transporter onto somebody, deconstructing them, and then not bothering to reconstruct them. The Disruptor/Phaser's just not as nice about it as the Transporter is. When the phasers actually start vaporizing people and things they're completely taking them apart on the molecular level, starting at the point of impact, and spreading out from there.
And then, just because phasers are all around badass tools of technological magichood, they can also be adjusted for pure thermal energy output when the weilders wants to use them as tools for carving, welding, or heating rocks, whatever.
Anyway, that's what I think Phasers/Disruptors do. they half-phase what they hit, then throw some thermal energy in for good measure. That's why Trek Shields often stand up well to raw energy(Say, the corona of a sun for example), or completely dismiss the danger posed by most(but MAYBE not the most extreme heights) laser weapons. Trek weapons have gone beyond reliance on raw energy output, into levels of technology that's almost mystical in that there's absolutely no way it could ever happen if you're entrenched yourself in real world science.
We're reminded often that Phasers/Disruptors are an evolution of Lasers and most energy weapons. This often raises points like "Well Lasers can have wildly different energy levels so this doesn't make sense". And often, when talking about the amount of raw energy phasers and disruptors put out, they're not as high as one would expect from the visual effects we witness.
My understanding of this has always been that Phasers/Disruptors have evolved beyond reliance on raw energy output for their damage. Yes, there is a measure of thermal energy output. You see that in the phaser burns, but i've always been of the mind that mostly, Phasers/Disruptors do EXACTLY what their names imply.
They like...if this is the right word i'm looking for...subatomically and/or molecularly(If there's a difference) "phase" and "disrupt" any matter they strike. Kinda like, say a harmful variation of Transporter technology, or the phase(There's that word again) cloak. The surface of a person or object right where the phaser/disruptor strikes is sorta...like...put out of phase with the rest of the body for just a second or so. Then, for good measure, a little bit of thermal energy damage is thrown in too.
Mind you, I don't think the material struck is COMPLETELY phased. There was this Sci Fi RPG a while back called Aeon Trinity. I won't go into detail, but suffice to say in this RPG there was a group of people who had the super power to Phase themselves through solid matter. However, the power was kind of crude, in that these people did not Phase completely, in the way we think of it. When they Phase, their bodies hover betweem solid, and immaterial. This gives them just enough solidity to avoid falling through the floor, but, allows them to move through walls. The rub, is that to move through a wall, they have to really push through it, and it's extremely painful. And if you were to take a chunk of the wall, samples of their blood, and tissue would be found suffused through the material even though they still come through in one peice.
THAT is what I think Phasers and Disruptors do. The area they strike becomes sorta half-phased.
Of course, the setting on the phaser effects just how severe this Phasing effect is I imagine that's a truamatic thing to do to an organic body, even for a fraction of a second, which I think explains the stun settings. The stun settings phase that part of the body they strike for a fraction of a second, but terminate before any serious tissue damage is done, and DONT throw any thermal damage in for good measure. The specific stun setting perhaps just influences how deep past the surface the phasing effect carries, or how many fractions of a second it lasts before allowing the tissue to resolidify.
The low-to-mid lethal settings do the same thing, but also burn the semi-phased tissue or material, allowing for the burns on organic beings or explosions on inorganic targets.
And then, at the highest lethal settings, what the Phaser/Disruptor is doing is essentially the equivalant of locking a Transporter onto somebody, deconstructing them, and then not bothering to reconstruct them. The Disruptor/Phaser's just not as nice about it as the Transporter is. When the phasers actually start vaporizing people and things they're completely taking them apart on the molecular level, starting at the point of impact, and spreading out from there.
And then, just because phasers are all around badass tools of technological magichood, they can also be adjusted for pure thermal energy output when the weilders wants to use them as tools for carving, welding, or heating rocks, whatever.
Anyway, that's what I think Phasers/Disruptors do. they half-phase what they hit, then throw some thermal energy in for good measure. That's why Trek Shields often stand up well to raw energy(Say, the corona of a sun for example), or completely dismiss the danger posed by most(but MAYBE not the most extreme heights) laser weapons. Trek weapons have gone beyond reliance on raw energy output, into levels of technology that's almost mystical in that there's absolutely no way it could ever happen if you're entrenched yourself in real world science.