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Among the most dinminutive and least powerful blasters, sporting blasters are short-range pistols often used for small-game hunting or as personal defense weapons. When she was a member of the Imperial Senate, Princess Leia Organa of Alderan often carried a Drearian Defense Conglomerate Defender sporting blaster under the pretext that her humanitarian assistance missions involved a considerable amount of danger. In truth, Leia was using her status as a senator to allow her spy for the outlaw Rebel resistance, and her unerring marksmanship with this weapon allowed her to permanently silence many Imperial soldiers before they could report her Rebel activities. Sporting blasters are marketed to the cicilian population, and because of their low-power blasts, they are often legal on worlds with otherwise stringent weapons control laws. The two top-selling models are the Defender and Merr-Sonn's "Quick 6." As a result of their relatively nonlethal nature, sporting blasters are the preferred weapons for the archaic "honor duels" that are still prevalent in some cultures. Considered something of an aristocratic weapon and widely regerded as more ceremonial than practical, sporting blasters are socially acceptable sidearms for nobles, diplomats, and ambassadors. The defender has relatively unsophisticated components and costs only 350 credits. (Many blaster pistols cost over five hundred credits.) It uses a minimum of blaster gas, instead relying on its small power pack to supply energy for each blast. The blaster bolt produces very little destructive energy, and only a direct hit is capable of kiling a human. A simple sight replaces the sophisticated electronic targeting scope found on most blasters. The defender's reliance on its power pack leads to several design limitations. The weapon has an optimul range of thirty meters, with a maximum range of sixty meters. A power surge dampener is needed to protect the delicate actuating blaster module, and several sophisticated components are needed to maintain the bolt's cohesion. These include enhanced galven circuitry modules (in the barrel), focusing coils (in the final stage collimator barrel), and the galven ring in the emitter nozzle. An extended cooling coil sleeve protects these electronic components from intense waste heat. In spite of these limitations, the Defender exhibits a number of advantages. Power packs can be charged quickly, and the internal computer automatically repairs minor malfunctions. The weapon's slim design is perfect for concealment, and many nobles order clothing with special pockets to hide the weapon from view. For added discretion, a three-digit code can be entered into the access panel (above the rigger), releasing the locking clamps and magnetic fasteners and causing the weapon to snap into three parts: the handle (with power pack), the main body (with main blaster components), and the barrel. The Defender can be reassembled in less than two seconds. |