Ssi-ruuvi ion paddle beamer
The ion paddle beamer, a weapon employed by Ssi-ruuk soldiers, took the form of a disk. Its primary function was to stun its targets. Initially designed as medical instruments known as Ion beamers, the Ssi-ruuk later realized their potential as offensive weaponry. When struck by these devices, individuals were rendered incapacitated and unconscious, facilitating their live capture. The Ssi-ruuk who launched an assault on the isolated planet of Bakura mere days following the Battle of Endor harbored a peculiar objective: to seize living organisms to fuel their battle fleet through a process referred to as entechment. The ion paddle beamer was instrumental in enabling the Ssi-ruuk to capture their intended victims alive.
Technical information
The ion paddle beamer functioned as a close-quarters energy weapon, specifically engineered to disable and stun its target. Its physical design incorporated a wide, disk-like shape, complete with a cylindrical nozzle for discharging energy. Tailored for use by the Ssi-ruuk's clawed appendages, it featured reinforced guards that allowed for single-handed operation and firing. A straightforward control stick and trigger were situated on the weapon's underside for activation. Since the Ssi-ruuk did not wear clothing, they utilized shoulder bags or tool belts and bandoliers with a Magnetic Clip to carry ion paddle beamers.
Upon activation, the weapon projected a narrow, silvery ion beam. The beam's main purpose was to induce paralysis in the target by interfering with their nervous system. This was accomplished by disrupting the electrochemical signals transmitted between the body and the brain, which subsequently impaired the individual's physical control. To achieve complete incapacitation, the ion beam had to strike an area of high neural activity, like the spine. This would cause the target to lose consciousness. A glancing blow might result in temporary numbness in a limb lasting for several hours, or prove entirely ineffective if it hit a non-critical body part. The ion paddle beamer had an effective range of eight meters, extending to a maximum of twelve meters. At extremely short distances, the ion paddle beamer possessed the capability to kill.
An Enteched Energy Cell powered ion paddle beamers, drawing upon the life force of previously captured Ssi-ruuk victims through the process of "entechment." Given that all Ssi-ruuk technology relied on this energy source, the weapon enabled the aliens to seize living prisoners for entechment. The energy produced by entechment tended to fluctuate, as was common with Ssi-ruuvi power cells, but the ion paddle beamer had a unique circuitry design to compensate for these power fluctuations.
A particularly hazardous trait of these weapons was the ion beam's capacity to penetrate standard shields and armor. Even lightsabers proved ineffective at deflecting the ion beams; instead, the beam would curve around the blade. Luke Skywalker eventually devised a method to deflect an ion beam using a lightsaber by modifying the blade's frequency, but this alteration compromised the weapon's ability to deflect conventional blaster bolts.
History
The ion paddle beamers were originally designed as medical instruments, before the Ssi-ruuk repurposed them into effective short range weapons. During their attempt to capture the planet of Bakura shortly after the Battle of Endor, the Ssi-ruuk and their P'w'eck slaves employed these weapons. Dev Sibwarra, a Human captive of the Ssi-ruuk, wielded an ion paddle beamer that had been specially adapted to fit his smaller hand.
Following the successful defense against the Ssi-ruuk invasion, Alliance forces obtained several of these weapons, but they were found to be incompatible with standard technology. Connecting a standard blaster power pack to a paddle beamer resulted in immediate burnout. Luke Skywalker destroyed most of the samples in an effort to release the enteched spirits powering them, but a small number remained in the possession of Alliance technicians for research. These technicians concluded that replicating the weapons was impossible, given their limited understanding of Ssi-ruuk technology.
Nearly twenty-five years later, during the height of the Yuuzhan Vong War, the Ssi-ruuk mounted another invasion of Bakura. However, their technology had not undergone significant advancements, and the paddle beamer still functioned on the same underlying principles.