DC-19 "Stealth" carbine
The DC-19 "Stealth" carbine was a blaster carbine in BlasTech Industries' DC-15 blaster line. The DC-19 was equipped with a sound suppressor unit for silent operations and an optional stealth function, which used a refined tibanna gas mixture that made the DC-19's plasma bolts invisible to the naked eye. However, the tibanna mixture was highly expensive, had to be reloaded after ten shots, and needed to be cooled down after each shot to prevent damage to the carbine's dampeners. The DC-19 was used almost exclusively by clone shadow troopers in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars and for a short time afterward, when the clone shadow troopers became part of the Imperial Army.
Description
Part of BlasTech Industries'[1] DC-15 blaster line,[5] the DC-19 "Stealth" carbine was a medium-sized blaster carbine[2] that weighed five kilograms and was worth 3,500 credits. Although the DC-19 had no stun setting,[3] it did have a number of unique features, including a sound suppressor unit that allowed the user to operate the blaster in virtually complete silence. The DC-19 also had an alternate stealth firing mode that used a refined mixture of tibanna gas, making the bolt invisible to the naked eye, a great boon to snipers.[2]
However, the invisible tibanna mix had to be reloaded after every ten shots, and there was a required cool down time between each individual shot to protect the blaster's dampeners from overheating.[2] Similar technology was later used in the Nightstinger sporting blaster rifle, utilized by Imperial commandos during the Galactic Civil War.[6] The carbine had an optimum firing range of up to forty-five meters and a maximum range of 450 meters.[4]
History
The DC-19 was used extensively by the elite clone shadow troopers in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Unlike most clone troopers, who generally used the standard DC-15S carbine, the shadow troopers used the sound suppressor unit of the "Stealth" carbine for their covert operations deep inside Confederate territory. Shadow trooper snipers also used the invisible laser bolt in the alternate tibanna gas firing mode to great effect.[2]
In 19 BBY,[7] after the end of the Clone Wars, the Republic's reformation into the Galactic Empire, and the Jedi Order being declared enemies of the state, shadow troopers were absorbed into the new Imperial Army, still using the DC-19 during the early part of the Empire's reign.[3] Circa 17 BBY,[8] Imperial Inquisitor and Dark Jedi Valin Draco took four shadow troopers—equipped with DC-19 carbines—on an expedition to the destroyed Almas Jedi Academy, investigating a powerful Force nexus that had appeared on the planet. Draco and his shadow troopers eventually made their way down into the Academy's sublevels, where the Inquisitor discovered an ancient Sith holocron.[3]
However, as Draco began to examine the holocron, the group encountered several members of an armed resistance movement working for the fugitive Jedi Master Denia. The shadow troopers attempted to ambush the resistance members, but the rebels engaged the Imperial troops in melee combat and defeated them. With the shadow troopers dispatched, a Force-sensitive resistance member took one of the clone's DC-19 carbines for the rebels' own use.[3]
Behind the scenes
The DC-19 "Stealth" carbine was created in 2007 by Sam D. Garito, writing under the alias of "Maso Tirag," in his winning entry for the clone shadow trooper in StarWars.com's Hyperspace contest, What's The Story? The DC-19 carbine then appeared, along with clone shadow troopers, in the fourth adventure of the Dawn of Defiance campaign for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, Saga Edition, Echoes of the Jedi, published in April of 2008.
Appearances
"Echoes of the Jedi" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link) (First appearance)
Sources
Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collection (Pack: Utapau Shadow Trooper) (backup link not verified!) (as DC-19 "Stealth" Blaster Rifle)- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
Utapau shadow troopers in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link) (First mentioned)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Utapau shadow troopers in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 "Echoes of the Jedi" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition Core Rulebook rule system establishes that all weapons of a certain type use the same base ranges. As the DC-19 "Stealth" carbine is a rifle with normal accuracy, according to Echoes of the Jedi, it has an optimum range from 0 to 30 squares and a maximum range of 300 squares, according to page 129 of the Saga Edition Core Rulebook. Each square represents a distance of 1.5 meters, according to page 146 of the book, which gives the weapon an optimum range from 0 to 45 meters and a maximum range of 450 meters.
- ↑ The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. I, p. 175 ("DC-19 stealth carbine")
- ↑ Specter of the Past
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith novelization
- ↑ Echoes of the Jedi states that the Twi'lek Jedi Master Vhiin Thorla traveled to the Almas Academy two years after the declaration of Order 66, which The New Essential Chronology dates to 19 BBY. This thus indicates that Echoes of the Jedi is set in circa 17 BBY.