Weapon Beam Tube

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BEAM TUBE

AFFILIATION
Open market.

MANUFACTURER
Various.

SIZE
Bulky.

WEIGHT
~45 kilograms.

COMPOSITION
Durasteel and plastoid.

WEAPON TYPE
Energy projector.

DAMAGE TYPE(S)
Medium.

AMMUNITION CAPACITY
100 shots per power pack.

FIRE SELECTOR
Semi-automatic.

MAX RANGE
50 meters.

DESCRIPTION​

Beam tubes are an archaic form of energy weapon which was in common use during the pre-Republic era. Among the earliest widely practical forms of portable blaster-like weapon, beam tubes were almost universally bulky, heavy and slow-firing. They consisted of two components, the first being the weapon itself, which contained the firing element and targeting systems, and the second being an external power pack and cooling system, usually worn as a backpack or satchel and connected to the weapon by an umbilical power coupling.

Beam tubes operated on roughly the same principles as modern blaster weapons, using energized gas to create a discharge of magnetically confined plasma. Unlike modern blasters, however, beam tubes do not fire contained bolts, but brief, continuous beams, making them powerful but considerably less efficient. Even the most sophisticated beam tubes only have a maximum range of about 50 meters, and their components have a combined weight of around 45 kilograms. In general, they are bulky and awkward to carry.

In the present day, beam tubes do not see a great deal of use in warfare, and tend to be used only on extreme backrocket planets that are well behind the Galactic tech curve. In their heyday, however, beam tubes represented a significant leap in firepower over the crude slugthrowers used by most standard infantry of their time; it was also much easier for a minimally trained soldier to use than the powerful but much harder to use heatbeam weapons which had existed prior. Armies that adopted the beam tube early on were rewarded with great success in battle, spurring the development of even more powerful - and much more convenient - weapons down the road.

LEGALITY​

Legal. Ownership of beam tubes is not restricted in most of the Galaxy, due in no small part to their status as antiques. However, openly carrying such a weapon in public might be on more "civilized" worlds. On less civilized worlds, it still might draw unwanted scrutiny.

INTENT​

To bring a weapon from Legends canon into our site's fanon.