BARD@MIT-XX.ARPA (09/20/85)
From: Bard Bloom <BARD@MIT-XX.ARPA> > Fourth and finally, consider how unlikely it is that even a Jedi > knight could react to blaster fire fast enough to deflect it. Far > more reasonable that he (or she?) can "pull" the bolt towards his > (her?) sword. > And, from a previous posting that I'm too lazy to find, words to the effect of ``blaster bolts go so slowly that you can almost walk away from them.'' Sounds like a fast person could move a (virtually massless) sword to catch them. Since they are so slow, they don't sound like either energy or normal projectile weapons. Perhaps they're something really eccentric, like some plasma wrapped in a magnetic field. Or perhaps a large kamikazi mosquito with a force field. (Then the use of the Force to deflect them would be mind control, which is probably a lot easier. 8-) > (Boy, does all this seem silly.) But isn't it a lot more fun than fighting about DHALGREN? Bard, whom the Force is _not_ with these years. -------
cipher@mmm.UUCP (Andre Guirard) (10/17/85)
In article <3703@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> BARD@MIT-XX.ARPA writes: >From: Bard Bloom <BARD@MIT-XX.ARPA> >> Fourth and finally, consider how unlikely it is that even a Jedi >> knight could react to blaster fire fast enough to deflect it. Far >> more reasonable that he (or she?) can "pull" the bolt towards his >> (her?) sword. >> > >And, from a previous posting that I'm too lazy to find, words to the effect >of ``blaster bolts go so slowly that you can almost walk away from them.'' >Sounds like a fast person could move a (virtually massless) sword to catch >them. I have to agree with Mr. Bloom. Nobody is fast enough to deflect blaster bolts after they've been fired. The trick for a Jedi Knight is to know where the bolt will strike and start to move before it's fired. Extraordinary sense perception is not required for this activity, since it is easy to see where a gun is pointing and when the wielder's finger tightens on the trigger. Of course, if the wielder is far away, there is plenty of time to dodge the slow-moving (relative to C) bolt.