From Where do Phasers Emit???
- Thread starter Irishman
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This has always been my head canon explanation. Firing from orbit risked collapsing too much debris into the elevator shaft, while firing upwards from a lower position could potentially shear off the top of the rock outcropping more cleanly.
It's still very much a WIP, but thanks!
You could say that about Star Trek's whole premise. They took everything from Forbidden Planet except the robot and the saucer that lands on planets, and Irwin Allen had already taken those for Lost in Space.
The idea that one would have to dismantle a starship and perhaps bury some parts underground in order to achieve mundane mission objectives makes Forbidden Planet look primitive, which is fine and increases the tension through showing how vulnerable our heroes are.
Should the same happen in Trek, it would actually be vice versa: these guys have transporters, so at a moment's notice they can effortlessly beam down big chunks of their starship and crush their opponents with that (literally if need be)...
At the same time, the transporter more or less eliminates the need to beam down anything but the heroes themselves, though. No need for vehicles or excavation gear or artillery when teleportation can simply sidestep all obstacles and whisk heroes to safety or enemies to oblivion. The balance Trek eventually found there is a precarious one, so I guess it's a good thing that props like the "The Cage" one never really reappeared.
Timo Saloniemi
Should the same happen in Trek, it would actually be vice versa: these guys have transporters, so at a moment's notice they can effortlessly beam down big chunks of their starship and crush their opponents with that (literally if need be)...
At the same time, the transporter more or less eliminates the need to beam down anything but the heroes themselves, though. No need for vehicles or excavation gear or artillery when teleportation can simply sidestep all obstacles and whisk heroes to safety or enemies to oblivion. The balance Trek eventually found there is a precarious one, so I guess it's a good thing that props like the "The Cage" one never really reappeared.
Timo Saloniemi
Given how wide the standard beam was, and that it heated and ablated the rock like a torch cutter, it seems more likely it was for removing planet bound obstacles. It could be how land is cleared by landing parties on ships ahead of building settlements or bases later.
Or being able to access supplies like Dilithium without having to wait for the COE to arrive, which could be days or weeks.
Or being able to access supplies like Dilithium without having to wait for the COE to arrive, which could be days or weeks.
The idea of the gadget as a mining tool sounds fine - the more specialized, the better odds it has at achieving its goals, supposedly. And our heroes need every edge they can get.
That it should be a laser, not so much. The visual effect is closer to Kirk's phaser rifle in the next pilot than to the sidearms in this one - and if the heroes could up the ante from the already demonstrably ineffective lasers, they would. Also, we later learn that a phaser removes matter quite selectively, so it would be ideal for mining, replacing stupid death ray drills that remove everything...
How this relates to the existence of things like field artillery or Pike-era phaser sidearms is vague enough that there are no obvious contradictions; every flashback or backstory from the movie and TV spinoffs can be accommodated. But pedestal drills like this get more compact by the time of VOY!
Timo Saloniemi
That it should be a laser, not so much. The visual effect is closer to Kirk's phaser rifle in the next pilot than to the sidearms in this one - and if the heroes could up the ante from the already demonstrably ineffective lasers, they would. Also, we later learn that a phaser removes matter quite selectively, so it would be ideal for mining, replacing stupid death ray drills that remove everything...
How this relates to the existence of things like field artillery or Pike-era phaser sidearms is vague enough that there are no obvious contradictions; every flashback or backstory from the movie and TV spinoffs can be accommodated. But pedestal drills like this get more compact by the time of VOY!
Timo Saloniemi
One thing that's always perplexed me on the Enterprise's design is that the photon torpedo launchers seem to be directly under the bridge. Putting aside the obvious concerns about the command centre being so exposed, but on top of high-yield ordnance always seemed very risky to me.
Those pics don't look right! Since when did the Enterprise shoot from it's rear and from the side of the saucer? I'm totally thinking TOS here by the way guys!
JB
JB
Well there is onscreen vocal reference to "aft phasers" in TOS and it makes sense phasers could be fired from aft and above or you're leaving the ship vulnerable to those angles of attack.
I lean toward a dismounted piece from the ship's battery. Just as a hand phaser can be used as a cutting torch, I don't have a problem with a larger weapon being "tuned" for cutting or drilling work. Seems more likely than having specialized excavation equipment aboard, and personally it's more interesting to see something improvised than for them to have whatever "uni-tasker" tools needed at all times like Batman. It's also more like FP, where they dismantled part of their ship to build a powerful transmitter.
In "Arena" when they are chasing the Gorn ship the "aft phaser" reports ready, so it's a reasonable guess as to how it would shoot.
In "Arena" when they are chasing the Gorn ship the "aft phaser" reports ready, so it's a reasonable guess as to how it would shoot.
Also, it appears that a side emitter is responsible for the beam fired by the Constellation in the original "The Doomsday Machine". The beam being single might be attributed to the poor state of the sister ship, or to the side banks being single by design, and of course sister ships might have differing weapons layouts, too.
Of course, that episode's abysmal visual effects have the phasers of the hero ship coming from unusual and unlikely locations, too - chiefly the very bottom vertex of the saucer.
But the hero ship is a cornucopia of exotic equipment in the following series, capable of sprouting hundreds of ultraviolet satellites at a moment's notice, say. That the ship would be more austere in Pike's days might be a fun and dramatic interpretation, but it's not a required one.
Timo Saloniemi
Of course, that episode's abysmal visual effects have the phasers of the hero ship coming from unusual and unlikely locations, too - chiefly the very bottom vertex of the saucer.
But the hero ship is a cornucopia of exotic equipment in the following series, capable of sprouting hundreds of ultraviolet satellites at a moment's notice, say. That the ship would be more austere in Pike's days might be a fun and dramatic interpretation, but it's not a required one.
Timo Saloniemi
Kind of related question and I hope the OP doesn't mind but was there ever an instance where one beam or more than two were shown emanating from the ship itself? Not photon torpedoes but for the phasers. Werent they shown as a single beam when shot to the planet like Who Mourns for Adonais and The Apple?
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